In the Water Margin
Ma Lin comes from Jiankang. He started as a hanger-on with no fixed trade, but he plays the iron flute beautifully and swings a great rolling blade so well that a hundred men cannot get near him, which is why he is called Iron Flute Immortal. He is one of the four chiefs of Mount Huangmen, with Ou Peng, Jiang Jing and Tao Zongwang.
When Song Jiang's party passes Mount Huangmen after the Jiangzhou rescue, Ma Lin and the others come down to greet him and ask to follow him to Liangshan. He goes on to fight as a cavalry officer of the mountain and takes seat sixty-seven beneath the Diming star.
